Donald Trump’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week

Kamala’s Minefield • Salvation Army • Justice for Tyreek Hill [View in your browser]( | [Update your preferences](newsletter=vf) [Vanity Fair Hive logo image]( Donald Trump’s Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week A bad debate performance was the last thing Donald Trump needed. After weeks of struggling to combat Kamala Harris’s rising star, the former president delivered an abysmal showing Tuesday night, resorting to stale rhetoric and petty personal grievances. But that, as Gabriel Sherman [scooped](, hasn’t stopped those within Trumpworld from attempting to spin it as victory. Leading up to the debate, Democratic insiders [told]( Chris Smith that the cards were stacked against Harris, largely due to sexism and her proximity to Joe Biden. But ultimately, “the debate is a contest of visions,” as Pete Buttigieg advised her in an [interview]( with Joe Hagan. Needless to say, she took that advice and ran with it, capping off another strong week for her campaign. Zooming out from the 2024 election, Kathryn Joyce [looked]( under the hood of the Catholic right’s celebrity-conversion industrial complex, while Jimmie Briggs [unpacked]( the fraught racial dynamics behind NFL player Tyreek Hill’s recent police detention. Thanks for reading, and see you next week. —Jon Skolnik, associate editor [Image may contain: Donald Trump, People, Person, Crowd, Accessories, Formal Wear, Tie, Adult, and Electrical Device]( [Disaster? What Disaster? In Trumpworld the Debate Was a Win]( By [Gabriel Sherman]( [Despite a nearly unanimously panned performance in Tuesday night’s debate, Donald Trump and his campaign were claiming victory on Wednesday morning. It’s a brazen tactic Trump learned from Roy Cohn.]( [Read more button](   [Pete Buttigieg Offers Insight on Kamala Harris Debate Night—and Whether She Should Go on Joe Rogan]( By [Joe Hagan]( [Biden’s transportation secretary, who played Mike Pence in Democrats’ 2020 debate prep, predicted what would be “the most revealing” part of the night for Harris, and for Trump.]( [Read more button](   [How Kamala Harris Will Maneuver the Trump Debate Minefield]( By [Chris Smith]( [The veep explained her flip-flops, distinguished herself from Joe Biden, and rose above Trump’s misogyny—all as part of a delicate dance to charm the undecideds. “What a woman does, especially in leadership roles,” said one insider, “can cut both ways.”]( [Read more button](   [Tyreek Hill’s Week—and Ours]( By [Jimmie Briggs]( [One man’s videotaped detention—in a decade of rough justice, dubiously administered.]( [Read more button](   [Image may contain: Tie, Accessories, Accessory, Electrical Device, Microphone, Human, Person, Suit, Coat, and Clothing]( [Behind the Catholic Right’s Celebrity-Conversion Industrial Complex]( By [Kathryn Joyce]( [From Russell Brand to JD Vance to Candace Owens, what happens when the Catholic Church chases influencers—and their legions of followers—down the rabbit hole of the right?]( [Read more button](   Get on the list Subscribe to our Hollywood newsletter for your essential industry and awards-season news, every day. [Sign Up Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn](   This e-mail was sent to you by The Hive. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our [Privacy Policy]( [Unsubscribe]( Sent from Condé Nast, 1 World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007 Copyright © 2024 Condé Nast